TORONTO – In a battle of prospects who brought perfect UFC marks into the octagon, Marcus Brimage and Jimy Hettes combined for an entertaining back-and-forth affair.

In the end, it was 3-to-1 underdog Brimage who outworked his fellow southpaw and claimed a hard-fought decision win.

The featherweight bout was part of the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 152 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The fight aired on FX following additional prelims on Facebook and prior to the main card on pay-per-view.

Brimage wobbled Hettes with a few early punches as he looked to stick and move and stay away from his opponent’s clinch. Hettes continually pressed forward in an attempt to engage in the grappling game, but Brimage simply pushed his opponent away and retreated from each effort. Halfway into the frame, Brimage floored his opponent with a left hand, but the American Top Team product was uncomfortable in his opponent’s guard as he followed to the floor, and he quickly backed away to reset.

Hettes still appeared wobbled as they reset on the feet, but the youngster didn’t back down from the efforts, and he was able to land a few of his own punches on the feet. Brimage slowed as the round wore on, but it was clear he had done enough to take the opening frame.

Brimage slipped a high kick to open the second and went back to rattling off powerful punches. Hettes survived and finally scored a takedown and went to work on the floor. Hettes looked quickly to transition to the back, but Brimage alertly pulled free and backed away. It didn’t last long, as Hettes landed more strikes and again moved into a clinch and took the fight to the floor. He quickly moved to the back and locked in a figure-four around the waist as he began to look for a potential choke. Brimage defended his opponent’s advances and finally worked free, but he was unable to capitalize on the feet in the closing stages of the round.

With the fight on the line in the third, Brimage opened as the aggressor and flashed a few crisp low kicks in addition to continued boxing work to the body. Blood began to trickle from behind Hettes’ right ear, but the Pennsylvania native continued to walk forward. Brimage continued to rattle off haymakers before ducking out of his opponent’s range, and while he wasn’t able to stop Hettes, it was enough to secure “The Bama Beast” the final round and a unanimous-decision win, 29-28 on all three judges’ cards.

“I was hoping I could knock him out in the first, but it went the distance,” Brimage said after the win. “I think I wasted a little too much energy trying to finish early on in the fight, so I wasn’t very confident going into the third. Big thanks to Charles McCarthy Jiu-Jitsu and American Top Team for giving me the training to survive Hettes’ submission attempts. Glad I got the win and ready to get back in there soon.”

With the victory, Brimage (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) remains unbeaten in the UFC and will likely not be such a massive underdog in his next appearance. Hettes (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) loses for the first time as a professional and sees a 10-fight win streak snapped.

“Standup was his game, and I couldn’t get him to the ground, so I think I deserved the loss,” Hettes said. “Not taking anything away from him, but I knew that if I got it to the floor, I would win the fight, and I wasn’t able to do that.”